Babylon and the Ragnarok
by Terrian Outlaw
Summary: This is a story I've been working on that's loosely based on the Outlaw Star Universe and the Star Ocean Universes. But fair warning, this will indeed get very graphic.
1. Chapter 1

Chpt 1

It all starts out somewhere.

The sun was peering through an open window across the room, when the sunbeam hit me in the face. Lazily I opened my eyes and glimpsed about the drab bedroom I was in. A torn up, dirtied cloth heaved back and forth across a covered window. My single bed, on which I found myself, was in better condition, but not by much. A dresser here, a closet there, and _Voila _you have a bedroom of a bounty soldier. Standing up, I went to the closet and got my garb out. I took out big military style boots fitted with metal armoring first, then the knee and elbow pads. A pair of shorts that came just below my knees nicely equipped with a large 'combat knife' I had acquired and I slapped on a "space" pistol harnessed into a shoulder strap. Gray and sleeveless was my undershirt, stained with the blood, dirt, and sweat from previous encounters and the green fleece jacket left open with the sleeves rolled up, made the finishing touches for my 'armor'. Big, thick gloves with over sized collars made the outfit complete. In the mirror, I did look good.

"Ya up yet? We're going to be late if you continue the party like that", A voice called from the distance. As I titled my head, dreary eyes made contact with my partner in crime, literally. Scratching my head, I answered back, "You know, Kevin, it's not nice to scare people like that. Making them think you can't party most of the night away." And with that, I walked towards the door shoving him out. Before I left the room I noticed a young lady on my bed sleeping next to where I was.

'_What did I do last night?' _ I thought myself as I shut the door.

While Kevin went into the kitchen to finish up breakfast, I sat down at the computer terminal as I did every morning after a job. The computer screen came to life as I moved the mouse a bit.

_**"Enter your code" **_ Flickered on the monitor.

Same report before and after a job. I hated filling out that report. "Turn on the 'puter. Enter your code. What did you do? How where you paid? Thank you and Goodbye" I said to myself out loud sounding less than intelligent while doing it. Kevin came over putting a plate of eggs on the desk.

"Eat up. We have a big engagement for today. Remember, lots of food means lots of fun." I eyeballed him with a smirk. Kevin was interesting person, 6'7" 260lbs of solid muscle, black roman style hair and hollow black eyes made him attractive, but I knew the truth. Kevin looked human like me, but he wasn't. Just a symbiotic creature that dwells in the body of a dead person. I didn't know the **real** Kevin, but I did meet him on the ship ride over here. In fact, I wasn't all that sure where here was. Here in the present that is, but the past was different. Knew where I was going and how to get there. And I still like to remember, and sometimes forget, the past.

* * *

A couple of months after I graduated in 2004 was when everything happened. Afghanistan and Iraq's governments failed and crumbed, allowing militant coups to rise up and take the countries. Soon they banded with other Middle Eastern countries and declared a unanimous vote to war on the western world. The countries of Northern Africa joined their war shortly after. Israel and Turkey were the first to fall, then Italy. Soon, bells didn't chime for the beginning of 2005, but bombs did. World War III had just commenced. America, Japan, Great Britain, India and Australia formed the Allies. China took this opportunity to attack as well. The super power joined Korea and Mongolia, and together attacked Russia, Japan and India. Most of Europe and Asia were wasted by nuclear blasts. Russia had fallen quickly, but not silently. They too launched the last of their ICBM's onto their Asian conquerors.

Very quickly did the spring of '05 become the winter of '05. I was nineteen then, young and stupid. A couple of my friends and I stole some cars and headed for the coast of Texas, near Galveston. A Naval base had been built in a hurry. A huge armada of ships was going to be docked there. So we got the bright idea to sneak on and fight for our country. But that wasn't going to happen.

Having an ex-military father gave me an idea. I used my military ID to get us on to the now Fort Galveston. It took us 8 hours to each the base, but only seconds to realize what was going on. As we reached the docks, the ships that awaited departure weren't American. They weren't even from Earth. Great vessels of unearthly design were in or hovered above the water. One thing made sense though; the occupants of the vessels were not human.

* * *

"Hey! Quit daydreaming and let's go!" Kevin shouted at me in a vexed toned and tossed toast at me. He turned and headed for the armoring table, letting his clothes flow behind. His dress was much more dramatic than mine was. A black jump suit thing decorated with battle scars and matching gloves and boots. A blood stained scarf wrapped around his lower face and flowing cloak made him look similar to Kane from SoulReaver. The handle of his katana protruded from his right shoulder and guns were strapped to his thighs for easy reach. We made an inventory check before leaving. We finished with the supplies so we made a run down of our weapons. My ion pistol required no bullets, just batteries. Kevin preferred the old school Earth guns, less damage but what few shields there were couldn't block them. My 'dagger' was the way I liked it, up close and personal. Kevin had a sword due to his strength and striking speed and the fact he can't really die. Aside from our weapons and fighting styles, we each had our talents. Kevin had superb strength and seemingly-immortality from the symbyote, while I was quick and agile from experience and other things.

"All green?"

"Check"

"Suited up and ready to rubble. I love that phrase."

Kevin picked up his gear and headed out the door. I made sure my gun was full, but grabbed a couple batteries anyway and left. The door shut behind me, the locks slamming into place. The walls of this dilapidated building had long been stripped of their original wallpaper, exposing the metal and woodwork left behind. Down the first flight of stairs, into the lobby where the intergalactic hookers and drug lords made camp, and out into the open. Above us the Bi-sun system stretched across the sky. The yellow sun was setting on the horizon while the blue sun was creeping into the midday position. Sunlight was everywhere and all the time. It was a rare occasion to get dark on the planet-sized moon for more than an hour or so. But this time, tonight was going to be long. The planet of which the moon we inhabited was on the 'bright side' of the planet. Every week or so, it get dark for less than an hour, but every whenever it was, the moon went dark for quite some time.

"Oh, scary. Big Blue's going to set and stay dark. Hold me." Kevin said and jumped on me as we stood outside the housing complex. Staring out into the blue, I looked up at him, shielding my eyes from the suns.

"Ha ha ha. You're really funny. So where are we going this time? Guards of the Festival of Drac'moth? Or just kill someone again?"

"Naw, even better. We get to hang with Abbie."

'_Oh Zippidi Do-Da'_ I thought to myself. Abbie was just as strange as my symbyote friend was. Granted she was a human, but she banged a dead body that's infested by something that looks like a little amoeba, now that's just creepy.

"Must we go visit her now?' I begged as we walked down the streets of Nuvu, the hometown of which we all got left at," I mean, do you think she'll appreciate that her love doll isn't off making money? Or bringing home stories?"

"Fret not, my friend, but she is part of the mission. She and the housing complex she lives in are being moved."

"Moved? But why?"

"Don't know. She didn't say or know. We just do. That's the job description: '**The bounty soldier is to do any job that is with in their capability**', or did you forget the contract?"

"No I didn't forget the contract." I thought coldly to myself, '_How could I?'_

* * *

We had left the cars back in a parking lot and jogged back to the docks. Sneaking into some near by warehouses gave us both cover and listening points.

"Hey, Shane, should we really be doing this? Sneaking up on our own government? I mean, don't they have this under control?" My friend Craig asked me.

"Well, maybe. But the truth always hurts. And the truth is: They don't." After that I crept closer, dodging from box to box, hiding in the shadows. I continued forward until I came upon 2 privates talking to each other.

"Hey Jones, how can we trust these aliens if we can't speak to them?" That private seemed worried more for himself then the other. "Darbie, calm down. The CO said it was cool, so keep it down. And pay attention, we're on watch." Both became quiet after that. From where I was crouched down, I could see the other side of the facility. What appeared to be pale, skinny, bald humans were on the other side. Their eyes just hypnotized you. I probably would have stood up in awe if Craig hadn't scared the crap out of me.

"What the hell, dude?! You scared the living hell out of me." My heart was beating so fast I thought I was going to faint. "Man, we need to get the hell out of here quickly. Something doesn't feel right." I could see that Craig was on the verge of tears. It startled me the most when I realized I was about to cry also.

* * *

Kevin was staring at me rather weird, even for him.

"You ok, Bro? You don't look so hot Shane. Ya fine?" Rubbing my eyes, I shook off the memories like a drug.

"Just thinkin' of the past again. Can't seem to help it sometimes."

"Hey, what's done is done? The past in no place to live. Trust me."

He put his arm around my shoulder and walked me the rest of the way to Abbie's complex. The building she lived in was more refined than our rundown shack. A metal outer shell with pot marks from the past coated the building. People where all out in the front yard with their belongings in mobile boxes and hover crates. Most of the occupants were not human. Most were Fray'lings, the pale, skinny, bald ones. The rest were a hodge-podge of humanoids and other non-human things. Most of which I couldn't recognize. One thing that I did understand from these beings was that most were elderly. The only young ones I could identify were Kevin, Abbie, her little sister, and I.

"**KEVIN YOU MADE IT**" I could hear that loud person even if I was deaf.

"Hey honey, I made it. Oh, and nice to see you too Abbie." Kevin and Abbie looked like the ultimate oogey young/old couple. Kevin looked about 26 years old, but of course, he never ages. And Abbie was like 16, four years younger than I was. Kevin scooped up Abbie's sister, Luna, who was about 11. Abbie undid his scarf and they became tongue-fest.

"Ok. I'm about to loose it. Stop. You two saw each other last, what, 24 hours ago?"

"But I get lonely when I don't get to see my heaping hunk of a man." Abbie replied in a babyish tone.

"Enough" Kevin put Luna down, kissed once more and headed with me to the headmaster of the complex.

"You're just jealous." Kevin peered at me with his dark eyes,

"What the hell are you talking about? You and Abbie, That's just up there on the 'Rather-wrong-o-meter'"

I told with out trying to laugh. He nudged me into the wall just as we reached the headmaster.

"Whoa lad. Becarefu' Na. Dem walls neak up on you ike dat." Rubbing my head, I gave Kevin a 'burn in hell' look. Then I looked up. The headmaster was something you try not to laugh at. His large, flat frog like head with hairy arms and hands meant he was a Lokk. He stood as high as I did, only fatter and smelled like strawberries and sushi. His bright clothing and cologne was an indicator to his wealth.

"Na tea hur. I have n'listed oar help for us do move. Ooh vill move dat big gouch out'tide. Under'dand?" His funny looking frog eyes made contact with Kevin. Kevin gave the couch a double look. It had to be the size of a Buick. He hung his head and walked forward.

"Ooh, 'mall one. Come hur." I followed the silly creature down the hall. "Ooh move dat murrer." I nodded my head and moved closer to the wall mirror hanging. Looking myself up and down, I thought to myself,

'_You've really come a long way to get here. But was it worth it?_'

* * *

Sneaking into a place was always easy for me. But of course, everyone has their flaws. Mine was usually getting out of that place.

"FREEZE! Stop moving and stand up!" A third private had caught the two of us back out from the crates.

"Put your hands where I can see them!" Craig and I stood up and all three privates moved closer. They ushered us into a storage room with in their sight. After binding our hands and gagging us, they shut the door. The room was so dark I couldn't see Craig next to me. I could hear him breathing hard and sobbing. Trying to look around in the darkness wasn't helping. I was so focused on trying to see and feel my way around that I almost didn't hear the gunfire. Both Craig and I held our breaths for a moment. More gunfire, men screaming and giving orders. Then there was silence. The door flew open and PFC Jones stood there.

"We got to hurry up and get you two out of here" He cut the ropes off us and ran out the door.

"That way", he pointed to the left, "will lead you out of here." Turning he raised the M-16 and fired. As Craig and I slipped passed the young soldier, we witnessed horror. Mutilated and screaming bodies littered the floor of the warehouse. I got a glimpse of a man with a cloak on running in the direction of the ships. The soldiers yelled and fired upon him, missing with every shot. As the man came closer to leaving the building, a figure jumped out a grabbed the man. One of the aliens had locked its arms around this guy. The man yelled something in Arabic and blinding heat and light over took the room.

* * *

'_I really gotta quit doing that. Leave the past behind me. ...But it's so hard._' I shook my head and took a good look at my self.

I'm about 5'7' tall about 165lbs, _mostly muscle_, I thought to myself; dirty blonde hair in a flowing mop and baby blue eyes glowed from my face. Not the best, but I can get the ladies. I flexed for a bit and picked the mirror up. Carefully, I carried it down the hall and out the door. I set it down where the headmaster needed it. Kevin came up to me holding a piece of paper.

"Here's what we need to do to get paid." Handing the paper to, I read.

Move objects out of building. (check)

Escort party to new dwellings

Help move the occupants in.

'_Well, this shouldn't be too hard. Move some people here to over there._' Thinking this to myself, I nodded to Kevin and pick up some boxes. The move took longer then expected. Some of the non-humans thought I was trying to steal their stuff. Others just didn't know what was going on. Damn old people.

Looking over at Abbie and Luna, I did realize I was a bit jealous. And Abbie was kinda lucky. It was only her and her sister in the apartment. And the only reason she lived there is because Kevin supplied her with the money, and one of the old aliens took her in to 'show her the ropes'. If it were up to Kevin, Abbie and Luna would move in with us. Like that was going to happen. No way was I going to live with a Nerco. The moving "party" stopped some ways form the final location, allowing the older ones to rest. While resting on a rock, Luna came up to me and started asking questions. Rather annoying questions.

"Why do you sleep with women of a questionable nature?" At first the hamsters in my head stopped running, and then picked up the pace. And the fact she didn't understand her own question made it worse. With a deep sigh, I did my best.

"And where did you hear this?"

"Abbie says that you sleep with other worldly whores."

Frankly I was shocked and appalled by this. I gave a dead stare to Abbie, who waved at me no less, and just walked away. To get back at her, I whispered into Luna's ear what Kev and Abbie where doing. Of course it wasn't something that Luna didn't know already, but Abbie didn't know that.

Later that night, after we had collected our pay, _cheap bastard_, I had a close discussion with Kevin. He won again in the fight. I would have to put up with Abbie for a little longer now. With an ice pack on my face and left hand, I turned in for the night.

'_Maybe sleep will get these thoughts of the past out of head_' I stared at the ceiling until I fell sleep.

* * *

I could smell the world around me before I could see or hear strait. The man in the cloak had blown himself up. My vision began to clear and my ears stopped ringing so loudly. Everything smelled like burnt flesh. I could feel that my bangs were missing and arm hair too. Clothes were fine so I stood up and looked around. Craig was mumbling something to himself and trying to stand.

"Come on Craigy, stand up and try to walk." Craig looked at me like I was crazy and walked like a drunk. We stumbled towards the direction of the hole in the wall. Barely walking over the rubble, I saw that one of the ships had been struck with something and a hole was gaping in its side and fire coming out. Military soldiers were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. One came up to us and said something about getting on a ship and leaving. I couldn't really hear him that well because of the blast. So I hurried Craig towards the armada when another explosion went off behind us. Everything went black as I fell to the ground.

I awoke to a spinning, unknown world. Everything hurt, inside and out. Blurred vision didn't help any, so I felt around. My head was bandaged and my left arm was in a sling across my body and hurt like hell. White, blood soaked bandages covered me like a crimson mummy. I looked around in fear, trying to yell for help but couldn't. All around me, humans and aliens alike were helping each other, some carrying bodies, others just comforting. In this strange world of comfort and pain, was where I met Kevin. At first he seemed a normal man, just a big, normal man.

"Hey, um, guy, y-you ok? You don't look so hot," He said to me. His voice was soothing, but somehow hollow in it's meaning. As he helped me up to stand, I noticed he had been shot.

"Are you so sure you're not hurt, yourself?" I questioned him, pointing to the bullet hole in his chest.

"Oh this", He put his finger into the hole in his chest; "this is nothing. Pierced the heart the think, but, I'll be fine."

At first I thought he was just goofing around, but I looked closer and I really could see all the way through his chest. His heart had been pierced.

"A-a-are you a z-zombie?" The words came out of my mouth like a scared child's. "I-I mean, are you a-alive?"

His black hollow eyes met mine and he grinned at me, "Well, please define alive. The body is dead. But I'm perfectly fine. See"

He lifted his shirt to expose a small wound on his stomach area. Then it moved around a bit and this big worm thing with claws, and tentacles, and eyes just peeked out. Honestly, that scared the hell out of me, and I fell to the ground yelling.

"**WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?**" I screamed in terror, but the others around looked unfazed by this guy.

"Sorry about that." And he reached down and grabbed the worm thing. It wriggled around a bit until he squeezed it hard enough to kill it. "Body leaches. They live on the ship. Here, let me show you me." A mental image of a slime mold thing flashed in my head. "That was me. I'm a symbyote. I have to have another body to express my being physically. Otherwise, I'm kinda a blob with telepathic powers."

I just stared at this guy for a time, not knowing what to think. But, after awhile, I got use to the idea of the worms and blobs in the dead body.

"So, um… where are we?" I asked my newfound friend.

"On the starship '_**Andron**_', on the way to a lunar colony."

"Where is this colony…hey? Wait a minute. Where's Craig? Was he with me?" I stood in a panic to find him. "Craig! Are you in here?" I yelled as loud as I could. "Cra-"

Kevin pulled me down before I could finish.

"Calm down. I'm sure he's fine. Where was he last?"

"Um.Um…right after the bomber blew himself up."

Kevin's eyes got big and looked surprised.

"OH. That was a while ago"

"How long ago?"

Kevin just looked at me

"HOW LONG AGO!?"

Kevin sighed heavily, "About 2 days ago. You've been unconscious on this ship. I found you lying near the waterfront, so I picked you up and carried you on board. I don't know where your friend Craig would be."

That news alone hit me harder than anything else. But Kevin went on to tell me that most of the countries on Earth launched the last of their missiles. Nuclear winter was already going into affect. Radiation and cold were to seal the fate of my home planet. Everything that my world had become was reduced to worthlessness in a matter of days. My species only survivors were on the 4 ships, the only 4 of about 180 ships to arrive.

Kevin informed me that the ships belonged to the aliens, the Fray'lings. They too were refugees, running from their past. But their home world had been taken over by some other alien race. The Fray'lings had stumbled upon Earth by accident. They had hoped that we had the technology to repair their ships. Instead, they found a violent and disturbed race, hell bent on destroying one another. Most of the ships landed in or around the Asian seacoast, which is why only four were left. One from Northern Europe, another from the Mediterranean area, and two from North America; one from Texas/Mexico area, the other from New England. A fifth was reported to have left, but was never to be found on radar or heard from again. But only four to be sure. Out of 6.5 billion people, our race had dropped to about 40,000 strong. Even then those 40,000 displaced souls are going to be spread thinly across the galaxy. I was told that these vessels were going to leave survivors at about 2 dozen solar systems.

Kevin told me that the ships each had different destinations to ensure the safety and survival of both races. The ship I inhabited was to go to a moon that orbited a planet on the edge of the galaxy. The trip took weeks. I'm not really sure exactly how long, but my arm had healed before we reached the moon. While on the cruiser, I met races from across the galaxy. The Fray'lings themselves lived in what we know as the Vega star system. Another one was the Lokk, a strange frog like people with hairy bodies and funky foods. Of course, Kevin was technically an alien too, but his race didn't have a name. So I called them the Body Snatchers, because, frankly, that's what he looked like to me. Languages were a different story. The Fray'lings tongue was impossible for a human to speak, so a sign language was developed. A Lokk's native language sounded like an Australian had bitten their tongue and could still talk. Talking to them was easy, but reasoning with them was useless. They were rather stubborn and did things their way. So in a matter of weeks, I learned most of both of their cultures and languages, and even some partnerships. Two of which changed my life completely. One was a human, the other wasn't. At first, both were for fun, but it got really bad. And took me down places I would never wish to be again.

* * *

I awoke in the middle of the night. The moon had already gone behind the planet. I didn't remember the party we had with the neighbors, which is why I don't remember the darkness. Looking outside didn't help; both suns were going to be down for the next couple days. So I got up, put my garb on and started to head outside. Before I left the apartment, I put my pistol in the shoulder harness for easier carrying. It was better that way in public. Just on a whim, I decided to check the terminal to see if any jobs had been listed. Sure enough, one was there:

**ATTENTION ALL BOUNTY SOLDIERS**

**BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR A HUMAN FEMALE**

**HEIGHT: 5'2"**

**WEIGHT: 105 LBS**

**SKIN: CRÈME **

**EYES: BROWN**

**HAIR: WHITE**

**LAST SEEN WEARING: WHITE SHIRT/RED STRIPES ON SLEEVES, BROWN SHORTS, BLACK SOCKS WITH RED SHOES, RED BOW TIED IN HAIR.**

**WARNING: CONSODERED ARMED AND DANGEROUS IF MET, DO NOT CONFRONT. WAIT FOR PROPER AUTHORIES. **

** COMMISSIONED BY THE ANEX CORP.**

'_That's odd._ _Anex corp., why would they want her? An employee? A whistle blower?_' I printed a copy and headed out the door. My watch told me it was about 3:30 in the morning. '_It's going to be a long day._' I thought to my self. Walking down the streets of Nuvu, I noticed things I didn't earlier. Like none of the buildings were more that 6 stories tall, or that all of them appeared to be really old. Like downtown streets in America old. The buildings were old, but kept up. The streets had rats and dog-things rummaging through the garbage. The huts and tents of the day merchants were empty, but ready for the crowds tomorrow. I knew that in the morning these streets where going to be packed with the hustle and bustle of humans and aliens. I was thinking of going on a camping trip with Kevin, Abbie, and Luna to get away from the city. We had connections to some really good supplies. And although Kevin and I had only lived here for a little over 12 months now, but people knew us well.

The bar down the way was a common place to get information. The bartender usually had some connections to someone somewhere. I pushed the saloon style doors open and surprisingly, it wasn't empty. About 50 humans and aliens filled the room. I checked over the group to see if any of them matched a description of the bounty. I'm sure they did the same to me. The bartender greeted me with a mug of froth.

I looked at him wearily, "Do I have to pay for this?"

The bartender was alien race that I didn't know. It looked a lot like a big teddy bear on crack.

"No, little Earthy, it's the festival of Drac'moth. So it's on the house."

"Cool. So um… (Sip) What does that mean exactly again? Uh...Drac'moth?"

"It means 'Festival of the Soul Sucker', because we release one at the beginning and kill it to end the festival."

'_To me this sounded like a demented Halloween.'_

"So you release a creature that can kill into the general public? This is safe because…"

"It's safe because a Dac'moth only comes out at night and feeds on those males who have matured enough to have offspring."

'_Oh great,_ ´ I thought to myself, '_I'm on the menu. Wait, isn't it going to be dark for some time? And can't pretty much everyone on the rock have kids?_'

"Well, little Earthy, I don't think it would like your kind anyway. But who knows."

"Hold on?! Isn't it going to be dark for next few days?"

The big crack bear looked at me with a smile; "It makes the festival all the more fun."

Chuckling to itself, the alien backed off to finish the dishes. He grabbed the towel on the counter and turned.

I was just about to finish off my drink when a hovercraft sounded over head. The patrons of the bar also stopped at the sound. The swinging doors opened and 2 government agents walked in. White tuxes and black shades meant high level agents. Oddly enough though, they appeared to be human. The 2 heads crisscrossed the drab room and occupants. The one on the right was to speak up first,

"Have any of you lowlifes seen a small girl?" His voice was loud and punctual. It was like every word had been stamped into my head. "It's ok to talk; none of you are on trail, at this moment."

The drunkards just shook their heads and continued to talk. The left looked at me hard.

"How about you, Earthling?"

'_Same voice, odd.' _I thought to myself

"Uh…No sir. No little girls in the tavern. But if I's sees one, I'll inform you." And I slammed the rest of my drink.

"You had better." '_Damn was that voice creepy._' I nodded my head and they left. The engines whirled loud and the vessel left. Looking around a bit, the mass behind me was starting to leave. So I decided I should too. I waited until the rest had gone outside to make sure that nothing was up and was the last to leave. Gave my thanks to the keeper and headed for the door. No sooner than I raised my hand to open the doors, they came flying back at my hand. The swinging door smacked right into my right hand's fingers.

"AHHHH…DAMN! That hurt." Shaking my hand a small figure stood in front of me.

"I'm sorry", cooed the cloaked figure.

"No problem, I'll be fine. I…" My eyes left my hand and fell upon the cloak. The cloak covered the person completely, but stopped short of the shoes. In that instance, it dawned on me who stood there. I arched back and tried to look at the face. Sure enough I saw white hairs sticking out of the cloak.

'_Ha Ha. I hit the jackpot! YES._'

"Please don't turn me in."

'_Score, I'm going to be…wait_. _Did she just ask me not to turn her in?_'

"You have no idea what they want to do to me."

At that very moment, she looked up at me and tears streamed down her face,

"Please, (sob) I need your help."


	2. Chapter 2

Chtp 2

Cry nots; Fret lots

'_Now here's an interesting crossroad. Help the girl, and possibly have a mind blowing adventure, or turn her in and make a mind blowing killing off the reward money_'

"Please, you have to hide me. Anex Corp is after me." She pleaded with me.

'_What? Anex is after HER? But she's like 14. Why her?'_ I thought. I looked out the door and saw that the hovercraft was coming back around.

"Uh-oh. Not good. All right come--"

"Hey bub, move it. I'm closing." The bartender shoved the girl and I out the door. She had rolled on the ground and the cloak opened towards the craft. As the searchlight crept along the ground, I acted against my better judgment. I pulled my pistol out and fired once at the light and again into the turbine. Whipping around, I ran forward and grabbed the girl. Tossing her over my shoulder I made a mad dash like a bat out of hell.

"Oh, thank you for saving me! You won't regret it. I promise," she yelled out as I ran.

"Don't worry. I already regret it." After I had ran about 200m, we slipped between two buildings and into the alley. Gun drawn, I peered around the corner. The hovercraft whirled and sputtered loudly, but out of sight.

"Don't you think the agents will be fine?" She showed honest concern for them, which caught me off guard.

"Yeah, sure. They're grown men. Everything will be—"

_**BLAM**_

A large explosion and flying debris confirmed my worst thoughts. Stepping out of the alleyway, we could see that the hovercraft had leveled a local building. Probably killing all of the occupants inside.

"Oh holy hell." I sighed out. The bounty head next to me fell to her knees weeping.

"I killed those people in there. All those lost souls. Why does this have to continue happening to me?"

"Um, no. I shot the ship. Remember?" I looked at her, but she never returned the look. She continued sobbing and glanced around. Fear seemed to fill her face instead of sorrow.

"What? Am I your angel of death now?" Anger painted my face because now there's probably a bounty out for me too.

"Well, looks like we're both fu…what?" Horror replaced fear of the girl's pale face. I reached my hand out to help her stand. "I..." Before I could finish, she bolted in the opposite direction.

"**Monster!" **

'_Damn she runs fast...wait, monster?'_

As I turned around, the shadow came round before the figure. A creature that seemed to walk right out of a nightmare stood before me. At least 9 feet tall and 3 feet wide, it's arms and legs were as big as trees. The massive three clawed hands clicked each other in anticipation. It's long anteater like head and 3 pairs of eyes starring me down. The tube mouth dripped with juices and blood, and a tongue appeared every now and again.

Raising its monstrous arms and head, it bellowed a death call for me, "**GGRRAAHHH**"

I managed to pop off a shot into its chest before being knocked senseless. The whole right arm connected with my body, launching me into a nearby wall. Barely able to move and even harder to breathe, my vision blurred and spun as the creature approached.

I could feel the earth pound beneath me as it moved in closer like a freight train. The creature picked me up with both hands and brought its face ever closer to mine. Its hot breath reeked of death and stink when the mouth opened. Moments before my head was placed into its gaping maw, a gunshot rang off. The creature screamed with pain right in my face and dropped me. The bounty was standing there, looking rather pissed.

'_Did she have a gun the whole time?_' She raised her arm firing again into its face.

'_Yep. She did._' The monster stumbled back a bit then ran off into the shadows, screaming the whole way.

"Are you ok? I mean, are you hurt badly?" She came to my side and stared me in the face. I got a good look at her face that night. She was diffidently a beautiful girl. Maybe turning her in wasn't a good idea. I could probably…Nah. Standing wasn't going to be option at this point, so I leaned on the girl.

"Do… (huff) you still… (huff) need my…help?" I could barely talk, big surprise there. "I'll… (pant) take you… (pant) home with...me."

A look of confusion washed the fear and sorrow from her face. She stared me down for a good time before helping me stand up. We slowly limped away from the destruction that I had created. Let the proper authorities sort out the mayhem.

As we crawled away slowly, a heavy thud sounded behind us. The Drac'moth grabbed the girl from beside me and threw her into the first floor windows of a building. Screaming until her body crashed through the glass wall, I watched her helplessly before the creature turned on me. I stood straight up and pulled my combat knife from my side with my left hand. Not really knife-like, it looked more like a sword handle with a guard and a short 14-in blade sticking out. With the dagger in my left hand and the ion-gun in my right, the monster got down on all fours. I could see the holes and burn marks on its body from the guns. As the beast stared me down, I cocked the overdrive bottom on the pistol. _'This had better work. I've only fired it like this once before.'_

From about 20ft away, the creature was on me in a split-second. Just from instinct, I fell on my back and the creature was passing over my body. Instantly I jabbed the knife into it's chest and slammed the gun into the lower jaw.

"BOOM BITCH!!" I pulled the trigger and the gun lit up. Its sides opened like flower petals, pulsing a blue light and whirled loudly before firing and vaporizing the things' head and most of the shoulders as well. The blast was loud enough to cause my ears to pop and to blow away the dirt entirely from underneath my head. The body of the dead Drac'moth fell on me and knocked the wind out of me. After a few wiggles, I pulled myself out and dragged my ass into the building the girl was in. Luckily she wasn't hurt to bad, out cold and cut up, but not hurt. I got her to wake up and headed to the house.

Somehow, I managed to punch in the correct numbers to get to my room. The door slid open and the lights were already on. I could hear the radio blaring about what just happened down town. Before the door even shut behind the bounty and me, Kevin was in view fully clothed and ready.

"Where the hell have you been wild man? Some lunatic ran off with an expensive bounty, destroyed a government hovercraft with 2 agents, do you hear me? 2 _**AGENTS**_**!** And blew an entire civilian complex to pieces. Oh, and get this, he even managed to kill a Drac'moth! Isn't that wild?!"

He looked up and saw how bloody I was with the bounty girl hanging off me. Kevin's blank stare was answered by the terminal kicking on with pictures of the bounty and myself.

His head went from the terminal, to me and the bounty, and back to the terminal.

"AHHH HA HA HA HA. You mean that you ran off with her and did all that good stuff. This is awesome! Ah hell! Now we get to have some real fun"

Kevin's enthusiasm was less then appreciated by me.

"Cut the shit, wise ass. We need help." I limped over to the couch and flopped down.

"I know. You just go to bed. I've got everything under control."

I turned to the bounty and told her to stay quite and sit on the couch. Hobbling to my room, I peeled my clothes off and passed out.

Kevin was running back and forth in the apartment talking aloud to himself. He looked down at his watch; it was close to 4:15 in the morning.

"I have to pack. We have to leave. I gotta call Abbie. I have to sell the room. I…"

Kevin looked to his right and noticed the bounty staring at him with big eyes.

"Can I help you?"

"My head hurts. And… Um…I'm sorta hungry." Her stomach growled loud enough for him to hear. He smiled, looked about, and laughed.

"Well of course. Here," he hurried to the kitchen and opened the fridge, "how about some…cheesecake?"

"That sounds great, but um, what's cheesecake?"

Kevin pulled it out and brought it to her.

"A dessert from Earth, duh. Its Shane's favorite, so don't eat all of it." He turned to finish his things.

"Oh, ok." She put a piece in her mouth. Instantly she had found her new love. "Oh, so, uh, where's Earth?"

Kevin stopped and his body went cold, even for him. At first he thought she had hit her head to hard.

'_How could she not know about Earth?_' He turned his head and found her staring right back.

"Um…it's a nearby moon."

"Oh, ok," she looked at her plate, "This is really good." She said with the fork in her hand, before she dropped it because of the blood on her hand.

Kevin went into the kitchen and retrieved a new fork and some napkins and handed it them to her.

"Thank you." She took another bite, "Yes, very good." She smiled at him and a trickle of blood ran down her face. He could see that the blood was red, but something was different about it.

'_She's not human, is she? What is she then?_'

Walking towards the videophone, Kevin dialed up Abbie. Sleepily she answered and Kevin told her to grab her gun and head over here. Telling her it was probably a better idea to leave Luna with a neighbor for now, she said she would. He hung the phone up and continued to watch the bounty. She was walking around the room in curiosity, studying the walls and furniture and eating cheesecake the entire time.

Kevin got another bright idea and lightly grabbed the bounty by her arm.

"Let's sit and talk about yourself."

Hours later, I awoke. The room was still dark, so at first I thought the suns hadn't risen yet. But I checked my watch and it read 10:30 in the morning. I looked around and noticed my clothes were hung in the closet. I hurt only faintly, but it all seemed just a dream.

'_Was it real? Did that really happen last night?' _Sitting up, I grabbed some pants and walked out the room shirtless. The radio was on playing some kind of music. The melody seemed as lost as I was. Kevin and Abbie were sitting on the couch next to each other. Abbie turned her head and cried out to me, "You're up early sunshine." My eyes landed on her like laser sights. "You're being bold this morning." I walked into the kitchen and saw the fridge was open with and Luna appeared to be scrounging in it.

"Hey Luna, watch…" I opened the door more, but Luna wasn't standing there. The bounty girl looked at me. I jumped back frightened, because I didn't expect to see her. Plus the only thing she was wearing, was one of my larger shirts with some socks, and had a spoon in her mouth.

Taking the spoon out of her mouth, she pointed it at me, "Hey, you're out of cheesecake, cookies, pudding, Jell-O, and milk. The 'frolong' taste nasty, so I threw it out and mustard is just plain gross."

"I-I-I. **WHAT!?** You ate **ALL **of my cheesecake?! **KEVIN! WHY THE HELL BOUNTY DIGGING IN THE FRIDGE?**"

I could hear Kevin and Abbie laughing to themselves. Both gave me a look of excitement and glee. One seemingly continuous smile stretched across the two like a white canyon. Abbie leaped out of her seat and bounded across the living room to me.

"She's a girl in peril and I know you know all about that. Plus, she needed a place to crash." I just stared at the dimwit in front of me. '_Is she being serious?_' I thought. '_She can't be serious._' Turning, I saw the bounty girl had bottle of pickles in her hands. She cracked open the lid and then she dumped it into her mouth.

"MMMMM…MMMM… (gulp) Yeah. These taste good also." Her face was dripping with juice and other foods had been smeared across the cheerful face. At this, my jaw just about hit the ground. Giving Abbie a quick glance, she knew what I thought.

"Oh honey, no. Come on. Let's give you a shower. Now first off…" Abbie walked off with the girl and left the room alone to Kevin and myself.

Sitting down on the couch, Kevin stood up with a heavy sigh and opened a bottled drink. I rolled my eyes at his behavior; "We can't just keep her like a pet. We might have to protect her ya know?"

Kevin cocked one eyebrow from behind his bottle he drank.

"She is worth a hefty amount." I added. Putting his bottle down on the table he rested his hands on his hip and sighed.

"And so are you my friend. The cameras in the area caught you shooting the hovercraft out of the sky. Even you're clean getaway. And if I'm not mistaken, don't they auto-track those who commit crimes, in fact, they should be right here …now" We both sat in the emptiness; the only sounds were coming from the bathroom down the hall. We started laughing a bit and smiled at each other.

Shutting the bathroom door behind them, Abbie took control.

"First, take your clothes off." The girl gave her a strange look," Don't give me that look, just do it." Turning her back to the girl, she turned the water on and waited for the tub to fill.

"Ms. Abbie, must I take a bath again? I thought you only had to one once a day or two. Have you taken your bath today yet?" Abbie looked the strange girl up and down. '_Who does she think she is? Telling me, of all people, I need a bath, ha! What does she know?_' Abbie then smelled herself "Ok. You win. I do need one." Looking about, she saw that there was a tub and a shower stall.

'Alrighty, little missy, hop in the tub. I got the stall." Walking over to the stall, Abbie removed her clothing. She set her clothes in a pile near the stall to be put back on. The bounty girl got out of her clothes and in the tub, terrified by the thought of being alone.

"Ms. Abbie?"

"Yes?" Abbie answered, shutting the stall door and turning the water on, she let the water pour down her body

"I use the shampoo first, right?" Abbie smiled a little.

"Yes, Sweetie, shampoo, then the conditioner." Abbie got the shampoo, put it in her hand and lathered her hair. She let the water run down her body, washing away soap and worries alike. Just as she was washing the conditioner out of her hair, Abbie heard the girl in the tub yell and a loud splashing noise

"What now, oh wise master, they will bust in and take control." I said aloud while Kevin walked towards his room muttering to himself. I had won this time.

"Hey, where's Luna at? Is she asleep on your bed?"

"Nah", Kevin said, "She's at one of the neighbors where Abbie used to live. She'll be safer there."

Kevin was just about to enter his room when a scream gave from down the hall. Both of us bolted down the hall, busting into the bathroom. Busting down the door opened the room up. The sight inside was both hilarious and arousing at the same time.

If I had to describe my emotions at that time it would probably be the same for Kevin: It would be confused, then slightly aroused.

The bounty girl was standing in the middle of the room naked, save for some bubbles covering her wet body. She was kinda dancing about holding her face.

"DAMN!" "Mother of God!" Both of us exclaimed at the same time.

Both of us were surprised by the nakedness of the girl. Plus, she had that kind of body that makes you instantly think dirty thoughts.

"AHHHH…MY EYES!" she was holding her face moving around.

Suddenly the stall door opened and Abbie looked pissed, "HEY! GET OUT OF HERE YOU PERVS!", she chucked a bottle at my face making contact. Kevin was laughing until she punched him in the nose. Kevin fell to the ground next to me. Slamming the door shut, Abbie's naked body was the last thing we saw. Looking at each other with grins, we got up and walked to the living room. Walking into the front room gave us both a nasty welcome.

Kevin and I were shot with an ion blast that paralyzed us both.

"**SHANE QUINN OF EARTH. YOU ARE UNDER ARREST FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF PUBLC AND GOVERNMENTAL PROPERTY, IGNORING FEERAL AGENTS, KILLING TWO FEDERAL AGENTS, AND AIDING THE WANTED CRIMINAL, TSAMI ONE"**

A capture droid was standing into the room.

'_Tsami One? Did he mean the bounty girl__**?**_**"**

The shiny hull was unscratched and free of abrasions, its metallic gun was outstretched in our direction and the net gun was already pointed at us. This one was one of the newer models I had seen before from previous missions. It turned it's big metal head and faced Kevin.

"**ANZAN OF ME'TORA. YOU ARE UNDER ARREST FOR AIDING THE CRIMINALS IN QUESTION AND THE DESURSION AND IGNORING ORDERS WHILE UNDER A FEDERAL CHAIN OF COMMAND."**

Both of us ground our teeth as we tried to stand.

'_Shit! How did the big ass thing get in here? Oh, this isn't going to end well._ _Oh no!' _I thought,'_Abbie and, the bounty, Tsami, are in trouble!_'

After helping the hopeless girl, Abbie got back in the shower stall. She let the water flow down her body in an oblivious bliss. Her thoughts where purely on those concerning her future with Kevin and living together.

She decided to rewash her hair due to the unwanted barge in by the boys.

While lost in her thoughts, the girl started to ask questions.

"Ms. Abbie, I have a question to ask of you?'

"Shoot a way little missy."

"Oh, but Ms. Abbie, I do not wish to harm you. But if I must."

Abbie looked up in confusion. She could see the girl stand up out of the tub. Abbie's eyes glazed over at that comment. Her horrified glaze stared in astonishment as Tsami's right thigh opened and a pistol was produced. The girl opened the shower. She stood before Abbie naked. All Abbie could do was cower in the shower as the other pointed the loaded weapon at her.

"No, no, no. Sweetheart don't shoot me. You don't want to do that!" She curled into a ball for useless protection hoping Kevin or Shane would accidentally bust in again. Just before Abbie's life flashed before her eyes, two gunshots rang through the apartment. Through her tears, Abbie could see that the other's focus was else where

"A-am I dead." Abbie asked standing while shaking.

"No Ms. Abbie. The shot came from outside. And why did you ask me not to shot you?" The girl's confused eyes settled on Abbie. She saw that the girl truly didn't understand what she meant. She wiped the tears from her eyes, turned off the shower and stood up.

"It was a metaphor, now please help me see what's going on." The girls quickly and quietly put their clothes on and crept towards the door. Abbie opened the door, left it ajar, and peered into the hall. All that she could gather from the limited viewpoint was that Shane was on his knees. She looked to see if her Syn-Bow was in Shane's room.

"You, stay here. I'm going to get my rifle-thing and help the guys."

"Ms. Abbie, please don't leave me alone. They're here for me. I know it. Please, you'll get hurt too."

"Not if I can help it."

Abbie opened the door slamming it in a fury. She managed to push Tsami into the shower stall at the same time. Bolting down the hall, it all seemed in slow motion. The calls of Kevin and Shane not to do it, the hissing of paralyzing bolts as they passed her body and the roll into Shane's room a.k.a. 'The Armory'. Sliding on her knees, she now had her Syn-Bow in hand. It looked like a medieval crossbow only with batteries. Pieced together from other weapons, She and Shane had made it long ago. The thunderous pounding of metal on wood made what seemed the whole building shake. The droid busted the whole door jam and ceiling to pieces and commanded the room. Abbie stood grinning at the metallic monster. She cocked back the handle and fired into its visor. The machine lurched backwards into the hallway and the plasma bolt charred a hole into the ceiling. The metallic beast fell with a loud crash.

The bulky metal work stood erect with no problem and faced Abbie head on.

"Well, that didn't hurt it."

The robot raised its armed gun and fired upon Abbie.

"**ABIGAIL CASTENZZI OF EARTH. YOU ARE UNDER ARREST FOR THE ASSISTED ESCAPE OF THE FOLLOWING CRIMINALS:**

**SHANE HARVEY OF EARTH**

**ANZAN OF ME'TORA**

**T-SAMI PROTOTYPE ONE**

**YOU WILL-"**

A multitude of bullet shots and ricochets sounded off from behind the droid.

The paralyzing shot was starting to ware off, just barley though. I had just managed to turn as Abbie ran down the hall. Kevin and I both looked in horror as she fearlessly ran at my room and dove inside. In two seconds, the robot had cleared us both and had ripped the walls down, exposing Abbie in the open. We heard a click then a ricochet of energy on metal. The droid fell to the ground with a thud and the ceiling started to smoke. Abbie stood wide eyed like a deer caught in headlights when the bot stood again. The flash of light and machine voice meant that Abbie had been caught to. Kevin was screaming his head off the whole time.

"**ABBIE NO! DON'T SHOOT IT! IT'LL KILL YOU! ABBIE!'**

I was on my knees thinking where's Tsami? _'Is she all right? Or is she caught also. IF she is…what will…'_

Before my thoughts finished, Tsami emerged from the bathroom. Her eyes had completely gone white and her stare was bone chilling. She turned her head towards us, paused for a moment, and turned to the droid. Her left hand started to glow and form a flat bubble. At the same time, her left shoulder opened and a handle protruded out. She raised her right hand and pulled a white light saber from her body.

"**ACTIVING BATLLE SYSTEM TSAMI-ONE:**

**T****echnologically ****S****uperior ****A****ndroid for ****M****echanized ****I****nfantry: Prototype ****1**

**BEGIN THE BATTLE"**

Before our very eyes, this confused little girl turned into the ultimate vigilante. A gun seamlessly appeared from her right leg and flowed into her left hand. Suddenly a maelstrom of bullets fired from the gun. Even though ricochets and sparks flew wildly off it, she continued her fearless death march. The great droid turned on a dime to face its new opponent only to have its left arm dropped of its body by a beam sword from her right. The bot took a step back fired the capture net at Tsami. She raised her left arm and a shield being generated from her hand vaporized the net. The helpless droid fired another net in an attempt to capture her. She glided out of the way like water, allowing the net to hurtle down the hall and snag myself in the process. Coming up on its undefended right side, she swung the beam sword hard and heavy. In an instant, the droid was cleaved in half; the only noises in the apartment were the electrical sparks and echo of a slice from hell. The heat and concussion blew Kevin and debris at me. His body collided with the wall next to me and pieces of board and shrapnel stuck all over the place. A fiery hole was left in the place where the android was.

"**WHAT IN THE HOLY HELL WAS THAT?"** I yelled at the top of my lungs, even though Kevin was only inches from my face. "Sorry. The past few events have me on the edge, ya know?"

Kevin didn't even look at me. His teary eyes were focused on the fiery hole only 35 feet from us, where Abbie and Tsami had been only seconds ago. I decided to try and cheer him up sorta, since both of us couldn't move. "**I wouldn't worry about them, They got out. I hope**." Kevin ignored me completely. His watery gaze was only on the flaming mass of timber, metal, and possibly, bodies.

"**Kevin-"**

"**Shut up! Just shut up. She's not dead. She can't be dead. I love her to much for her to be dead."**

Kevin struggled has hard as his body would allow. He stopped has sirens where sounded off in the distance.

Soon police, fire, and government bodies will be crawling all over the place. Looking for a cover up to hide our deaths. So before anything like that would happen, I wiggled my way out of the net and helped Kevin move some. Lifting Kevin up on my shoulders, he leaned on me and we hobbled away. Reaching the door out to the hallway, I kicked the door down. A loud whirling and smashing from behind us stopped us in our tracks. Looking over my shoulder, the top half of the droid was crawling out of the hellhole down the hall. The fire blasted body was shrapnel marked and half melted.

"Um, Kevin. We need to move faster. Now." Dropping Kevin to the ground, he yelled a bit as I dragged him out the door.

"It's still alive?" Kevin cried to me from under his cloak. I unholstered my pistol stepping over Kevin and entered the battlefield. The machine used its stub of a left limb and straightened itself up. It started to move its right arm, which wasn't going to be good.

"It would appear so." I aimed my gun at its head and unloaded a couple ion shots into the body. Most hit their mark, causing sparks to fly from the inside but nothing stopped the droid. Metal on metal screamed from the arms as it raised the net gun. It was almost like a shot from an old western movie. We both stood only feet from each other, guns drawn, fire consuming the room, and before I could try to blow the arm off, a shadow flew from out the flames. A white hot beam sword tore down through the ceiling and down through the droid. The metallic halves flew from each other. Rising up from her knees like a phoenix out the fire, Tsami stood there not even affected by the fire and had Abbie draped over her shoulders. The sword cut off and Tsami placed it into her left shoulder. She walked through the robot halves and approached me. When she reached me, she set Abbie down on the ground and looked into my eyes. The glazed look left her body and she collapsed on the ground next to Abbie. I stared at the two girls lying there, mainly because my brain couldn't process what just happened.

"Hey, uh, Kevin. Damn dude. Can you move yet?" Turning around, I could see Kevin stumbling towards me. "You gonna be ok man?"

"Yeah. That ion shot really messed with my interface to the body. It feels like I'm moving through some water." Waddling over to the girls, Kevin picked up Abbie and I got Tsami. When the siren noise got too loud, we left the room to burn both the evidence and some of our past.

A couple of hours later, all four of us were sitting around a campfire some miles outside the city. I was standing watch only inches from Tsami for her safety and mine. I had my back to the fire, so I peered over my shoulders every now and then. Kevin covered Abbie from the other side. The girls had some stew boiling in a pot that we had bought at a store. It was a mixture of "beef" and different vegetables. It started to smell very good and I was really hungry at that point. I kept peeking behind me to look at the food, but my vision usually drifted towards Tsami's butt or Abbie's cleavage. "_Damn my penis. Stupid human thoughts_"

Tsami stood up and walked towards me with two bowls of stew and handled me one. We sat down on one of the logs with the fire to our backs. A gun in one hand and the bowl in the other made me think for some reason.

"Here silly, let me help you. Just watch out there and I'll feed you." I just looked at Tsami with some confusion. "_Why the hell not?_" I thought. So the two of us spoon-fed each other the whole meal. I thought at first she was doing it to be nice, but as this went on, her motive seemed different. She got closer to me, getting more touchy-feely on me and ended up on my lap. At the end of the meal, Kevin and I set up the two black market cloaking tents to help hide and protect us. The original idea was boys in one tent and girls in the other, but Kevin and Abbie soon put that idea down the drain. So Tsami and I crawled into the tent and into the sleeping bag. Snuggling under the covers, the two across the way made it apparent what they were doing.

"OH MY GOD! Must they do that so loudly?" I throw the sleeping bag flip over my head in a useless attempt to block the noise out. Next to me, Tsami was laughing to herself and rubbing her leg on mine. I crossed my hands behind head and looked towards Tsami. She just stared back at me and rested her head on my chest.

"Shane?"

"Hmm?"

"Will you protect me like Kevin tries to protect Abbie?"

"Sure, that's what you asked me when we first met. So, why not." I brought my right hand around and placed it around her shoulders bringing her closer still. She glanced up at me quickly then fell asleep on me. I closed my eyes and thought of all the things that had helped of lately.

"_Ok, let's go down the list. First, my bounty had been a girl, appearently a very important one. Which puts her in the "Lets Capture Her List" But Tsami's different somehow. I thought she was a human, but no. I think she might be an android. But androids don't eat or breathe. So is she or isn't she? Anyway. then the capture droid listed all sorts of things at Kevin. What was that he called him again? Anzan of where the hell he said. Well I'll ask him in the morning. But of course, I can't get this thought out of my head. Is Tsami a person or android… Or…or is she both? Ahh...no matter it may be, I have to do what I can. HUH? She's getting really cuddly. All right."_

The tall building loomed in the shadows of forsaken skies and unpredictable weather. Highly elevated, the edifice of power had an onlooker peering through the top windows. His platinum hair seemed to fit perfectly on his chiseled features. Sharp eyes with purple backdrops scanned the horizon's clouded sky for unseen answers. The white business suite enhanced his bodily build even more. The man behind him sat at the table with drinks waiting. A servant appeared and broke the eerie calm.

"Mr. Loki, sir. You have a guest in the lobby. He says he's from a nearby star system with some information about the girl."

"That will be all for now. Send him up."

The servant left his masters and went about his business. The other at the table took a sip of wine and looked towards his partner. He too had platinum hair, but his face was different and eyes were green. His black suit was the same style as that of the window watcher.

"You know, Loki, if this guy really does know where she's at, then the search is over."

"Yes, I know. The search will be over, but the battle will still be on. We need to stay close to one another Tomi. And we need Tsami to do so."

Loki pulled a photo from the table that Tomi had been looking at. The picture had Tsami sitting on the ground watching the sky with a young man in front of her. He had his gun drawn at the picture and ready to fire.

"Tomi, ready the men. Find him with the info you'll get. He'll lead us to Tsami. Then kill the informer. Leave no trails."

Loki let the picture drop on the table and walked out of the room. Tomi grabbed the picture, checked his gun, and headed to the lobby to meet the next victim.


End file.
